The Las Vegas Aviators received a solid organizational debut from Matt Sauer on Saturday, but two unearned runs and another quiet night from the offense proved costly.
Tacoma beat Las Vegas 4-2 at Las Vegas Ballpark, handing the Aviators their second loss in three games. Las Vegas fell to 64-47 and now needs a win Sunday to salvage a 3-3 split of the six-game series.
The loss also knocked the Aviators out of first place in the PCL West second-half standings for the first time. Las Vegas sits at 20-18, one game behind Sacramento at 21-17.
Sauer settles into his Aviators debut
Sauer allowed Tacoma to manufacture a run before recording an out.
Ryan Bliss was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, then scored on Michael Arroyo’s sacrifice fly. Sauer prevented further damage and worked around a defensive mistake in the second.
Darell Hernaiz committed a fielding error that allowed Stuart Fairchild to reach second. However, Sauer escaped when Nick Raposo grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Sauer returned for the third and allowed a leadoff double to Bliss before Jake Garland replaced him. Garland stranded Bliss, leaving Sauer charged with one run on two hits across two innings.
The right-hander walked one and threw 43 pitches, including 26 strikes, in his first appearance for Las Vegas.
Fourth-inning errors prove costly
The Aviators’ second error had a much larger impact.
Lazaro Montes singled to begin the fourth and advanced on Garland’s wild pitch. Connor Joe followed with another single before Fairchild hit a ground ball to third baseman Michael Stefanic.
Stefanic’s fielding error allowed Montes to score and kept the inning moving.
Miles Mastrobuoni later forced Joe at third, but Bliss doubled home Fairchild with two outs. Both runs in the inning were unearned.
Garland allowed three runs, only one earned, across three innings.
Stefanic provides the offense
Las Vegas answered immediately in the bottom of the fourth.
Hernaiz doubled before Stefanic drove a two-run homer to center, cutting Tacoma’s lead to 3-2. It was Stefanic’s fifth home run of the season.
However, the Aviators did not score again.
Arroyo restored Tacoma’s two-run lead with a solo homer in the fifth. Las Vegas then managed only three hits over the final five innings.
The Aviators had another opportunity in the sixth when Stefanic and Joey Meneses singled with one out. Bryan Lavastida advanced both runners, but Brayan Buelvas struck out to end the threat.
Las Vegas finished 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and stranded six.
Bullpen keeps the game close
Jared Johnson followed Garland with two scoreless innings despite issuing two walks.
Andrew Bash then covered the final two frames. He allowed three hits but kept Tacoma off the scoreboard.
The pitching staff gave Las Vegas a chance, allowing only two earned runs. However, the Aviators could not generate enough offense to overcome the defensive mistakes.
Las Vegas has scored six total runs over its last two games after scoring 10 in Tuesday’s series opener.
Up next
The Aviators and Rainiers conclude the series Sunday at 6:05 p.m. PDT at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Left-hander Ryan Magdic (0-1, 6.32 ERA) is scheduled to start for Las Vegas against Tacoma right-hander Carson Fulmer (4-1, 5.33 ERA).
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Las Vegas Aces, Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
